POLICE RECRUITMENT GOES HI-TECH
By Blair Crawford, The Windsor Star, January 25, 1995
When Chief Mike Smith of the St. Clair Beach Police became a police officer 24 years ago, the hiring process wasn't very scientific.
"I wrote an aptitude test and I was interviewed by the police commission," Smith said.
"Then someone asked me if I played sports."
Becoming a police officer isn't so simple today. Just ask one of the 1,300 hopefuls who are slogging their way through a pilot project for police hiring in Essex County. The project marks the first time all the municipal police forces in the county have joined together to search for new trainees.
The process is grueling and the odds are long -- only 80 to 100 of the applicants will make it to the final pool and earn a chance at one of 45 police cadet jobs in Windsor and five other county municipalities.
More than 1,600 applicants were received by the time the entry deadline passed in December. Applications came from across Canada but initially only candidates from Essex County were considered. Later, the contest was opened to those outside the county to ensure there were enough candidates who are female, disabled, or from visible minorities.
Only 1,300 of the 1,600 were invited to write the barrage of psychological and aptitude tests, which have pared the number to about 400.
Those who survive graduate to B-PAD, the latest hi-tech tool that police use to identify those how have the right stuff to be a police officer.
B-PAD, short for Behavioral Personnel Assessment Device, is a video test developed by consultants in California to determine the psychological makeup of a potential recruit. This is the first use of B-PAD in Canada and officers from four other Ontairo police departments are on hand to watch the process. If it proves successful, B-PAD could be used by police across the province.
Is B-PAD hard? Not if you don't mind being subjected to the stress of carrying on an intimate conversation with a television set. Oh, and don't forget the video camera recording your every move -- each nervou tic, each self-conscious cough.
"When they hear the sirens (on the videotape) you can watch as people tense up," said Windsor Police Staff Sgt. Ian McIver. "But once they've seen the first video they start to relax. When it's over some of them even ask if they can do more."
Here's how it works. The viewer watches eight scenes of one or two minutes duration and then has 45 seconds to respond as if talking face-to-face with the person on the screen. The exact situations are closely guarded secrets. To know a B-PAD situation in advance would be like having an advance copy of an exam.
"The good part about these tests is that you don't have to be a police officer to do them," McIver said. "They're situations that anyone could experience. They are tests of your interpersonal skills and of your ability to communicate."
Sitting before the monitor with a microphone around you neck and staring in a rolling video camera is intimidating.
To help candidates relax, all see the same practice situation as a warm-up. The practice situation isn't graded and is the only one that can be described in The Star.
You're in a police cruiser when the radio crackles to life sending you to investigate a neighbor dispute. You pull into a driveway and are met by an elderly woman.
"You've got to do something about those kids," she exclaims.
The woman tells you how kids in the neighborhood have been harassing her. She points to her shoes, hanging from a tree overhead.
"They put them there," she says. "I want you to arrest them."
The woman stares impatiently as she waits for your response.
"Some people might see that and laugh or tell her it's no big deal," McIver said. "But it's important to her and you have to recognize that."
The other tests involve different people and personalities in various stages of distress. The videotaped responses are viewed by a panel of police officers and civilians who watch how the candidates react, looking for clues in words and body language.
Police expect only about 10 to 15 percent of the candidates will fail their B-PAD test. Those who continue on still face a detailed personal interview, an interview with a psychologist, and a final evaluation and grading.
Police hope the first recruits will enter the Ontario Police Collge in May.